The End
by TalksToSelf
Summary: Was unsure whether to post this as Holic or Tsubasa since it contains both sets of characters. The end.


A/n: I thought I'd take a realistic stab at how Tsubasa is going to end… since it's now basically accepted that Sakura was dying in those first few pages. (DAMNIT FEI WANG!)

Free Will (uh this chapter is more xxxholic than Tsubasa…)

"How are they doing?" The small black fuzz ball asked its mistress. Mokona peeked at the two figures, one with short pink hair and the other with long blue hair, they were curled up asleep like yin and yang.  
"Not well… it's nearly time." Yuko, the dimensional witch whispered, kneeling beside her two soulless servants who were unconscious on the floor, their faces tired and worn. "Marudashi, Morodashi… soon."  
"Should we tell Watan…" Mokona started, but a knock on the sliding door startled them  
"Supper's ready you should hurry and eat it because if it gets cold I'm absolutely NOT making you anymore!" Said the snappy but concerned voice of Watanuki Kimihiro from outside. Yuko glanced at his silhouette and smiled softly. She knew today was the day. She could feel it in her very bones.

"I can't eat supper without a good healthy serving of sake." She chimed, and with a stroke to Mokona on her shoulder she swept away from her two soulless helpers and slipped out of the door. Watanuki's face was as red as a tomato.  
"Fine!" He fumed angrily. "FINE! You drink yourself to death with sake, you numb your taste buds with so much alcohol that you can't even TASTE the Okonomi…" Yuko grabbed hold of his face and he fell silent, blinking softly. "Y…Yuko-san."  
"You have a sparkle in your eyes… Ki-Mi-Hi-Ro." She sang softly. Watanuki closed his eyes instinctively. She was talking nonsense.  
"Just… just go eat," He mumbled. He found it weird when Yuko got maternal over him: she was creepy enough. He disappeared off to get sake.

When he returned, he found Yuko had not yet started eating, instead she was staring at her plate, a wistful look in her eyes.  
"You know… you have a real talent for cooking." She told him. Watanuki grinned boyishly.  
"Of course I do! I am the great Watanuki-sama!" And with a state of grace he only used with Doumeki, he allowed a smug look to creep onto his face. He poured Yuko a drink, which she only sipped at. Something was definitely wrong when Yuko was denying drink. "Are you… okay?" He asked her apprehensively.  
"I cannot say." Yuko chanted.  
"You… cannot say?" He repeated dubiously.  
"Bound to this shop… I can grant wishes, but I cannot advise. One is about to culminate in a way I'd prefer it not to… however… I cannot interfere." She sighed softly. "Right now, I would like to enjoy this meal." She began eating, and for once Mokona seemed subdued. Ears low and all four… paws(?) on the table, eyes closed (well, they were always closed, but they seemed tighter than usual)  
"And… if you could interfere? What would your wish be?" Watanuki breathed softly, getting the impression that something big was about to happen.

Yuko said nothing. She already knew his next words, so merely continued eating his scrumptious food. Watanuki was quiet for a long time.  
"What would the price be… if I were to wish for your free will?" He queried, one blue and one gold eye glittering in apprehension, knowing this would cost him greatly. Yuko did her best to look indifferent, an easy mask for her. She placed her chopsticks down and glanced out the window.  
"I would leave this store… you would have to take charge."  
"ME!" He squawked clambering to his feet, "I… I have no magic! And where would you GO! I thought you liked working here you seem to always… I mean and school and!" Watanuki blinked furiously. Yuko said nothing, and took a sip of her alcohol, before handing it to Mokona. Mokona's bottom lip quivered and it downed the admittedly fairly small drink in one go.  
"I never asked you to make the wish, nor would I." She stroked Mokona once again as it shook: as though hoping this conversation would never come. "It's a terrible position to be in at times… knowing the consequences of your actions… however. Sometimes there are rewarding times… lives saved… babies born…" She smiled and then looked at him knowingly. "Miracles."  
"I… I want to…" He started, and she stood up, held her finger to his lips and shook her head.

"Don't you make this wish unless you're sure." She said firmly. "It's a burden I would not wish on anyone… however, it is your wish. I also cannot tell you not to make the wish." Watanuki blinked and nodded. He hesitated only a split second before speaking the words that would change destiny.  
"I wish… you were free to make your own decisions." He said, and bowed his head, feeling instantly greatly accomplished but at the same time a little foolish. Yuko grabbed him and kissed him quite roughly, and when she pulled back she was flushing like a schoolgirl.  
"YOU!" She told him as he hastily tried to wipe the lipstick smeared on his lips, obviously flustered and bewildered stammering angrily. "Are an accident... I can't deny that. But the most wonderful accident ever. You're half of a whole, and one in your own." She whispered.

Watanuki was utterly befuddled.  
"You have magic beyond your wildest dreams… I'd explain more but." She paused and shook her head. "What is about to happen is not your fault. It is my wish, and my will… but I am ending."  
"Eh!"  
"All things that start, must end. This place… my magic… Maru, Moro… they have all helped me live beyond my expiry. So before I die naturally, I have certain important wishes I need to fulfil." She smoothed out her dress.  
"Yuko-san! You can't be serious!" Watanuki flailed, something he was prone to doing, a trait he'd inherited from his father. "You… you're going to kill yourself! Was the job that terrible?" Evidently not understanding, he was panicked and confused. being left alone was not something he'd ever intended.  
"Watanuki… you are amazing… _she _will be by later tonight, to explain everything… I have to go. I've dawdled too long, and there are lives in the balance." She hugged him tightly. "I'll be taking Mokona… but they'll both be coming back, and Larg… that's this one's real name." She added picking the black Mokona up and cuddling it close to her over large chest. "Will return your memories when it gets home."  
"My… memories?" Watanuki breathed.  
"I'm afraid… I haven't been entirely honest with you. I'm sorry… time to go." She whispered. "My death is not your fault: If you're feeling sorry for yourself, by all means, turn to alcohol." She smirked. "You're here to stay now… it won't affect you. However… I believe Doumeki-kun and Himawari-chan are adequate substitutes. Goodbye… Kimihiro." And with that said, Mokona opened its mouth and the two of them vanished. Watanuki fell to his knees.

"Am I late?" Yuko asked, sweeping her cloak along the dusty floor of the Clow ruins. She surveyed the carnage. Fei Wang stood propped against a wall, burned and bruised, a sword through his chest, but still alive: in absolute agony. Sakura was enveloped in wings, jet black, feathers creeping over her ivory skin, she was screaming horrendously. Syaoran, inside a large (now shattered) glass tube that Clow Reed had once given Yuko herself, injured but not gravely, wincing and looking up at her, he'd been in this situation before.

Fay, for once in his life crying, sat clutching onto Kurogane, who was bleeding profusely through a wound in his stomach.  
"A little it seems." Yuko raised her hand and froze time. Sakura stared dead eyed onwards, Kurogane's blood stopped flowing. Fay and Syaoran both blinked. Fei Wang staggered forward.  
"Witch!" He growled at her. "Still you interfere."  
"It's over, Fei Wang…" Yuko said. "You are dying as am I… our roles are over. These children." She signalled to the group, in varied states of agony and distress. "Have suffered… at our hands… at our interference… and now is the time." Yuko turned to Syaoran. "You've faced this before, you know the wish, its consequences…"  
"No…" Syaoran begged, closing his eyes and allowing tears to fall. "I'd wreck it all… all over again…" He sobbed, clenching his fists. "I was young… I didn't understand… I can't do that again." He looked at Kurogane, then at Sakura, the very image of his mother: their lives were forfeit. If he didn't make this wish: they would die. If he did… they would suffer. He was still only 15, it was a huge decision.

"What Fei Wang never told you, was there were other options. You were manipulated Syaoran…" She glared at Fei Wang, this time addressing him. "Look at you… would he be proud. What you've become… striving to revive him: it's little less than a child playing with puppets." His eyes bugged a little, as though he wanted to fight, but was much too weak. "Syaoran, the world is in a very delicate balance… meddling with time is NOT something recommended. If you ask me to rewind to the point 7 and a half years ago when you made the wish… all that will happen is this…" she waved her hand vaguely across them. "All over again, and again in a loop. However… now I am free to advise." She glanced at Fay briefly: she knew he knew what kind of magic this spell would take, the vampire only bowed his head.

"You can go further… beyond your birth… Syaoran… just say the word… and I can turn back time so he would never be born… so this would never happen." She once again signalled around her. "There will be benefits… Fay… Kurogane's parents… Your parents… their lives cannot be restored in this life: in this timeline: but reversing time can change the circumstances. I cannot promise they won't die in car crashes months later, or of a heart attack moments after… but they will not die by Fei Wang's means…"  
"What is the price?" Fay questioned, still cradling Kurogane's head in his lap.  
"It would need to be a joint wish… you, Kurogane, Sakura… and of course Syaoran… would need to pay the ultimate price."  
"Life?" Syaoran asked sounding a little frightened.  
"No… your relationships. You will forget any of this ever happened, and there will be no guarantee where you end up. There is no proof of how much was Fei Wang's or my own interference. Fay, your uncle could still go mad, Syaoran your mother will still dream, Kurogane's country may still be plagued with demons… it's risky. Sakura, who has had no tragic events: will be happy. That is one thing I can guarantee… and that if it's destiny… you will mean again." She whispered.

"I'll… pay." Fay said, nodding slowly. "It's worth the risk. I lived through it once… and I hope I won't be foolish again…"  
"Understand that it means you might never see each other…" Fay sighed softly. He kissed Kurogane on the forehead.  
"I understand." He whispered.  
"Syaoran… you understand that you hold this decision once again in your hands." Yuko asked him.  
"I… mother, father forgive me if this is wrong. I've committed taboo once again: Do it. Yuko-san… turn the clock back." Syaoran begged. Yuko smiled and glanced at Kurogane, glad to be given the choice finally, she silently thanked Watanuki.  
"I'll just take his word for it." She said, with a wink. And then there was a supreme sucking feeling, as though everything was draining away. The clocks cried in pain as they were forced back through the ages, energy seeping from the dimensional witch, every power she possessed now doing what it never could: interfere.

Yuko fell to her knees, the magic in her veins disappearing as her life force flickered. She glanced at Fei Wang. And as the two died Yuko whispered.  
"The dream has ended." Mokona held onto her, as she, along with Clow Reed's brother, vanished.

A/n: EDIT: originally I intended this to be a chaptered fiction, however I have the funniest feeling this is the end of the fic. :P


End file.
